Heerabai Ibrahim Lobi is an Indian social activist who has worked to empower over 700 women of the Siddi community in Junagadh, Gujarat. He has been honored with Padma Shri in 2023 and many other awards.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Hirabai Ibrahim Lobi alias Hirabaiben Ibrahimbhai Lobi was born in Jambur village of Talala tehsil of Gir Somnath district of Gujarat. Being from a poor family, she could not go to school or college. She had a strong desire to learn and increase her knowledge as she wanted to move away from her traditional occupation of cutting wood. Her husband believed in women’s equality, and she worked with him on their 0.5-hectare land. He had a family loan of Rs 1 lakh; However, he refused to sell his land to repay the loan and started finding new ideas to repay the loan.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 7″
Weight (Approx): 60 kg
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye colour: black
Family
She was from a poor family.
parents and siblings
Her parents died when she was 14 years old. He was brought up by his grandmother.
wife and children
He got married at an early age and had two sons and a daughter.
Hirabai Ibrahim Lobi (far left) with her family
religion/religious views
She follows Islam.
CASTEISMAND
He belongs to the Siddi community of African origin, who were brought here as slaves of Islamic dynasties from the 7th century and later as British slaves in the 16th century.
Training for women in making organic fertilizers
He heard about organic fertilizers on a radio broadcast, which aroused his interest and he started preparing organic fertilizers in his farm. She started looking for buyers for her manure and managed to find a buyer. They produced 160 bags in the first year and increased production to 500 bags the following year by adding nine women to their team. She formed 12 groups of 95 women, who produce and sell organic fertilizer. They also helped women create fruit gardens to grow various fruits. She had said in an interview that she will train those women who want to improve their standard of living and will also take with her those women who want to study.
Heerabai Ibrahim Lobi is working with fellow women in the field of fertilizer.
Initiating educational reforms among the Siddis
She came from a family where no woman was literate yet she made it the aim of her life to educate every Siddi woman. She focused on improving the education level of Siddi women by motivating them to go to school and study. A playschool was established in his village Jambur which was often vandalised. The teacher approached him for help and as a result of his intervention more children started coming to school. He established many kindergarten schools in his area.
School opened in Jambur with the help of Heerabai Ibrahim Lobi
Promoting financial independence among Siddi women
She has encouraged the women of her community to achieve financial independence by actively helping them open bank accounts and accompanying them to banks and dealing with officials. She also promotes government schemes for the betterment of women in her community and motivates them to use such schemes to raise their standard of living. She joined the Aga Khan Foundation and later joined the Indian Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) to learn about the activities of these NGOs. In 2004, she founded the Mahila Vikas Foundation to help her fellow women. In an interview, he said that he has been able to stop women from cutting wood and engage them in various money-earning activities. He said,
I have not grown trees in the forest, but I have saved the forest from being cut.”
Promoting health and hygiene practices among Siddi women
She spread practices to improve health and hygiene among the women of the Siddi community. They also promoted birth control as a means to live a better life and be able to care for their children more effectively.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- Received Certificate of Honor by Gujarat Agricultural University in Junagadh in 2001, 2007 and 2012.
Hirabai Ibrahim Lobi with certificate of honor
- Women’s World Summit Foundation Award for Women’s Creativity in Rural Life in 2002
- Janakidevi Bajaj Award for Outstanding Women Rural Entrepreneur in 2006
- CNN IBN Real Heroes Award Winner 2010
- Padmashree in 2023
Hirabai Ibrahim Lobi was awarded the Padma Shri by Indian President Draupadi Murmu in 2023
Facts/General Knowledge
- When she received the prize money of $500 in the Women’s World Summit Foundation’s Award for Women’s Creativity in Rural Life in 2002, she donated it to her village.
Women’s World Summit Foundation’s award for women’s creativity in rural life was given to Heerabai Ibrahim Lobi.
- She became emotional and thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for honoring her with Padma Shri in 2023 and said that he has given her the biggest award as she was quite unknown. He said,
My dear Narendra Bhai, you have filled our bag with happiness.”
He also said that until Modi brought him forward, no one gave him any recognition or cared about him. While accepting the award from Indian President Draupadi Murmu, she placed both her hands on Murmu’s shoulders to bless her.
- She said in an interview that while growing up she had a dream that she would not be able to study because of her financial situation; However, she would not allow any girl from her family and community to drop out of studies due to financial constraints. She had also said in another interview that she wanted Siddi people to become engineers and do other work other than labour. He said,
My dream is that all Siddis will not be laborers and one day a young person will knock on my door and ask for help to become an engineer.
- She has helped over 700 women study, work and achieve financial independence.
- He has been honored by many organizations and acknowledged by many people including Amitabh Bachchan and Mukesh Ambani for his work.
Hirabai Ibrahim Lobi (centre) with Rajdeep Sardesai (left) and Amitabh Bachchan.
Hirabai Ibrahim Lobi (right) with Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani (left)
Hirabai Ibrahim Lobi with her awards and honors
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Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn